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Wednesday, December 1, 2010

What I Learned...

A few weeks back, I almost lost my wallet to a thief! Andre wanted a hamster for his birthday, so I decided to bring him to a pet store so he could personally choose his hamster. The store was crowded and we had to wiggle our way inside to get to the area where these cute rodents were displayed. I noticed a lady standing closely behind me. i didn't mind her at first, but I had this uneasy feeling about her. While my son was so busy deciding which hamster to pick, I suddenly felt nervous and my gut feeling was telling me to check on my bag. To my horror, I realized my wallet was missing, and I looked back and saw the lady making her way out of the store. I hurried after her and tried to get her attention, on instinct I grabbed her hair and she was a bit startled to see me. I wanted to ask if I could check on her bag because I was missing my wallet and she was the last person I saw standing behind me, but before I even finished what I was trying to say, she handed me my wallet, blurted an apology and walked away as if it was the most natural thing to do. I was shocked at first, so I was not able to react. But when I came to my senses, I realized that I left Andre in the store, and God knows if it was some kind of gang who did it to distract me and grab my son when I ran after the lady. I rushed back to the store, and a wave of relief washed over me when I saw my son at the exact spot where I left him, oblivious of what just happened. When he saw that I was back, he flashed me a wide smile and said "Mommy, hamster please?".

A small crowd already gathered and they were telling me I should have called out security, or chased the lady, one was even telling me that if it happened to her, she would surely slap the lady and insulted her. I thought to myself, if I was just a mere observer I would probably be saying the same things. But I learned that it's different when it actually happens to you. People have different ways of handling a situation, in my case I admit I lost my focus for a bit, and it was pretty foolish of me to run after the person and leave my son in the store. I know I should have reprimanded the lady, called security or whatever it was people thought was the right thing to do, but when she handed me my wallet I guess I was just relieved that I had it back and realizing that I left Andre at the pet store, I had to go back and make sure he was safe.

After paying for the hamster, we headed out and I was scanning the crowd for the lady. I still remembered her face, and what she was wearing. One would never think she was someone capable of stealing stuff from other people. But hey. looks are deceiving, right? I wondered how many wallets she stole that day, I could imagine how someone would feel if they found out they lost their belongings. I am blessed because i truly believe it was my guardian angel at work that day, and also equally gratefully that my son's guardian angel was with him as well.